Halloween Decorations at the Right (and Enjoyable) Price

Last Updated on October 18, 2010

There’s always a couple houses in each neighborhood that spare no expense when it comes to decorating their homes for Halloween. We’re talking smoke machines, strobe lights, animatronic witches and mummies (I’ve seen it all), and on down. But does it really take dropping a couple thou at Party City to show the neighbors you mean (spooky) business. Step it up with some good old fashioned creativity.

1) Tiny ghosts all over the place – This can be accomplished by buying ping pong balls, or to be even more cost effective some large moth balls. Grab some cheese cloth or a similarly thin cloth. Wrap some cloth around each ball, tying it off with either string or a rubber band. On the face (the ball) draw on whatever scary ghost face you please. Next, string some string through the top of the ball, through the cloth, for hanging purposes. This is incredibly cost effective and you can make hundreds of them in no time. You can blanket your trees and bushes with angry-faced ghosts – all the effort, none of the cost.

2) A classic: spiderwebs – We all know what to do here. Buy as much fake spiderwebbing as possible and put it over everything, I mean everything, make it seem like your house was in the movie Arachnophobia. Sprinkle on some cheap plastic spiders for effect and you’re good to go.

3) Apply a good scare – When all else fails scare the hell out of the trick or treaters for no money at all. Dress up as a mummy, apply some fake blood on your face or fangs for effect. Hide behind a bush or a tree (or a preferable hiding spot) and hop out just when the kids think they’re getting off scott-free with some nice candy in hand. It costs nothing but your time, and there’s almost no cleanup! A variation of this is leaving a bowl of candy outside, making the trick or treaters think that it’s a free for all, take what you please. It’s at that moment you pop out and scare them like crazy – then wish them a happy Halloween. They’ll remember your house.

4) Chalk outlines on the driveway – Well, that’s it, draw an outline of yourself on the driveway to look like a crime scene. It only costs however much one piece of sidewalk chalk is (ie. very little). How creepy.

All of these wonderful decorations and plans can be executed with minimal funding, but it can make Halloween both fun, memorable, and infinitely more enjoyable than in years past, when buying pre made decorations didn’t provide the joy you were looking for out of one of America’s more enjoyable holidays. Save money, enjoy the day and just think, all those pinched pennies on Halloween can soon translate into some gorgeous new home fixtures once the sugary Halloween dust has settled…you never know.